Life in the Open Ocean

Life in the Open Ocean: The Biology of Pelagic Species

This book provides in-depth coverage of the different marine animal groups that form the communities inhabiting the ocean’s pelagic realm. This comprehensive resource is the first of its kind to address all of the major animal groups comprising both the swimmers and drifters of the open sea. It explores the physical environment, foraging strategies, energetics, locomotion, sensory mechanisms, and special adaptations of a wide array of marine taxa.

Key Features

• Comprehensive Coverage: This book is the first of its kind to address all of the major animal groups comprising both the swimmers and drifters of the open sea. It covers a wide array of marine taxa, including Cnidaria, ctenophores, crustaceans, cephalopods, pelagic gastropods, invertebrate chordates, and fishes.
• Global Perspective: The book explores the physical environment, foraging strategies, energetics, locomotion, sensory mechanisms, and global and vertical distributions of a wide array of marine taxa.
• Sensory Mechanisms: It covers all sensory mechanisms of animals living in the pelagic habitat, including photoreception, mechanoreception, and chemoreception.
• Expert Authorship: Bringing together the most recent information available in a single volume, the book is an excellent senior-level undergraduate and graduate textbook for courses in biology and biological oceanography.
• Target Audience: It is an excellent senior-level undergraduate and graduate textbook for courses in biology and biological oceanography, and a valuable reference for all those with an interest in open-ocean biology.